1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector device for connecting, for example, printed circuit boards to each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
A connector device 50 as shown, for example, in FIG. 1 is known as a connector device for making an electrical connection between, for example, printed circuit boards. The connector device 50 is used to electrically connect a first circuit board 53 to a second circuit board 63 and has a housing 51 made of plastics. The first circuit board 53 is diagonally inserted into a groove 52 of the housing 51 and swung, in a direction as indicated by an arrow 54, to an upright position as shown in FIG. 2. The upright circuit board 53 makes electrical contact with connection terminals 55 by being sandwiched by spring force of the connection terminals 55 held in a groove. A pair of latching sections 56, 57 are provided on both the end portions of the housing 51 to securely hold the circuit board in the upright position. During the swinging of the circuit board 53, the latching sections 56 and 57 are pushed, while being elastically flexed outwardly of the housing, away from each other by the circuit board 53 and, upon the reaching the upright position, returned back to an original position, thus holding end surfaces 58 and 59 of the circuit board 53 therebetween. At the same time, those mutually facing faces 60 and 61 of projections of the latching sections S6 and S7 support a surface 62 of the circuit board, holding the circuit board 53 to the upright position. Upon the detachment of the circuit board 53 from the connector device 50, the latching sections 56 and 57 are pushed and outwardly flexed, away from each other, removing the circuit board 53 from the connector device. The latching sections 56 and 57 are made of plastics and formed integral with the housing 51.
However, the plastics latching sections 56 and 57 used in the conventional connector device are liable to crack, break, etc., failing to impart any adequate withstand property to the connector device. Further, upon the repeated attachment and detachment of the circuit board to and from the connector device, the latching sections are not returned back to the original position and the board holding force of the latching sections is decreased, enabling no adequate electrical connection to be made between the circuit board and the connection terminals. The latching sections are also liable to be damaged or worm out due to a frictional force involved upon the attachment and detachment of the circuit board to and from the connector device. It is difficult to manufacture the latching sections of complex shape such that they are formed integral with the housing with the use of plastics. High accuracy is required upon the manufacture of such complex latching sections. Due to the limited flexibility of the plastics, a considerable force is also required when the latching sections are pushed away from each other upon the attachment and detachment of the circuit board.